Chris Goldsworthy CEng CMarEng FIMarEST

Chief Executive Officer, IMarEST

My marine career started at 19 years old after A-levels as a cadet with P&O Containers [while] attending South Tyneside Marine College for the three-year Higher National Diploma (HND) course. 

I absolutely relished my sea time, all with the same company, which lasted a total of 16 years. I count myself very fortunate to come through my sea time at the time that I did, to experience the traditional watchkeeping on motor and steam vessels, then [to experience] Unattended Machinery Spaces (UMS). 

Still with P&O, but after [the] merger with Royal Nedlloyd, I was invited to come ashore as a seconded fleet superintendent. The intention was to have six months in the office, a short leave, contract at sea, a second six months in the office, then rotate back to permanent sea staff. 

However, after 20 years in ship management ashore, I'm still waiting for the return to sea! Two weeks into my shore career, an assigned vessel had an engine room fire, thankfully with no injuries, and the crew did an exceptional job extinguishing the fire, which led me to leading a nine-week repair in Panama - a steep learning curve. 

Then from owner management, following the acquisition of P&O Nedlloyd by Maersk, I moved into third-party ship management with Columbia Ship Management in Cyprus as technical superintendent, then subsequently as technical manager in charge of the Japanese fleet. The teamwork and change in scope were welcomed and led to inclusion into more company operational and strategic decisions.  

To develop vessel type knowledge, I then accepted a fleet manager role at Bernhard Schulte Ship Management, also in Cyprus, managing a fleet of product, crude, and chemical tankers. Following five years in that role, I accepted a position, fleet director, with a vessel owner in the Netherlands to create a new in-house ship management company, with full P&L responsibility, which involved team selection and building, Safety Management System (SMS) creation and implementation. 

Within 10 months we had 10 vessels in management and had passed a Tanker Management Self Assessment (TMSA) II audit with clean results. 

Then came the movement to Tamar Ship Management in Hong Kong, initially as technical fleet manager, then with the near tripling of the fleet size in three years, led to restructuring and a new role as technical director.